The Nakamura Curse
by the thorns on the rose
Summary: We all know the Sohma family, but what if they weren't the only ones with the zodiac curse? Meet the Nakamuras, who hold the same curse. Naoki and Satoru Nakamura are sent to live with their cousins, one of them being that stupid cat. But they find out the cat is actually a girl, and the girl finds out these two idiot boys aren't as bad as they seem to be. T for language and dialog
1. Chapter 1

Naoki wasn't angry.

Angry didn't even _begin_ to cover it.

Even before he met the stupid cat, it was already ruining his life.

Not him. _It._

He opened the door to pull his –_and Satoru's_- luggage inside. "Why can't you haul your own things inside?"

Satoru brushed a strand of hair out of his face. "You didn't give me the chance. Will you just calm down already? This isn't like you."

_He's right. I'm acting just like Black Satoru._ "I can't calm down. Not with him here."

"You don't even know his name."

"I overheard them talking about him at the estate. It's Chihiro… or something that sounds similar. Are you going to help or not?"

Satoru picked up half of the bags and headed upstairs. "Is Kazuki not home?"

"I don't think so. Neither is Chihiro."

"So what, they just leave their door unlocked? That's idiotic."

Satoru sighed. "Naoki, if they hadn't unlocked it, we wouldn't have been able to get inside. Which room is ours?"

They could hear the door open and shut again. "Why in the HELL did you leave the door unlocked?"

"So Satoru and Naoki could get in. Why did you transform on the way here?"

"BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO LIVE IN A RODENT INFESTED HOUSE!"

"It was Masaru's decision, not mine."

Satoru recognized the voice as Kazuki's and made himself known. "Got anything to eat, Kazuki?"

Naoki could hear a hiss and tiny little paws running, so he decided it was safe to abandon his possessions and go down the stairs. Kazuki was carrying what looked like a white and red uniform, but it was folded up and hard to tell.

_I thought the boy's school uniforms here were grey and red…_

"Hello boys. We're ordering out tonight because _someone_ forgot to go grocery shopping."

An orange puffball poked it's head through the doorway. "That someone was you, moron! I swear, as soon as I change back I am going to kick your ass!"

"Whatever you say."

Naoki couldn't help but snicker.

"You think that's funny, rat boy? Well I'll be coming for you next!"

_He is such an idiot._ "What are we ordering?"

"Food," Kazuki deadpanned.

"… What kind of food?" Satoru asked.

"I don't care. Pick something."

"They don't know what restaurants we have here, idiot," said the orange puffball, slowly calming down. Naoki had to admit, he did make a cute cat. "Just order from the one we always order from."

"What do you mean, 'always order from'?" Satoru questioned.

"We don't cook much." Kazuki dialed on his cell phone and put it to his ear. "Hey, it's Kazuki again."

_He's on a first name basis with them…_

A puff of pale orange smoke fogged up the room. "Ready for our fight, rat?" said a voice close to Naoki's ear. He sighed and turned around, but froze in place as he did so.

He barely had time to register what he was seeing as an orange-haired teenage girl socked him in the face.

...

She didn't get to land another punch. Naoki kept dodging her fists, _extremely_ confused.

"That sounds good. Okay, goodbye." Kazuki hung up his phone, still completely calm. "Chiharu, go put clothes on. You're making a fool of yourself."

"Not. Until. I Land. A Punch! QUIT DODGING, DAMMIT! FIGHT LIKE A MAN!"

"I bet it's hard to fight like a man when there's so much woman to distract him," Satoru chuckled.

"Go put some clothes on or you're not eating," Kazuki said.

Chiharu huffed and stomped up the stairs. "You're lucky I'm hungry, rodent! You'd be dead by now if I wasn't!"

"

She's got pretty large countries above her equator. Isn't that right, Naoki?"

"What?! I wasn't-

"You cannot tell me you weren't looking."

"I don't think she'd appreciate you talking about her like that," Kazuki said. "I don't want blood on my carpet, so keep comments like that to a minimum."

Chiharu came back down in sweats and sat Indian style on the floor, with an agitated expression. "Damn rat."

"Stupid cat."

"I love how you haven't acknowledged my presence, Chi."

"I DON'T EVEN KNOW YOUR NAME AND YOU THINK YOU CAN CALL ME CHI?!" she screamed at Satoru.

"Satoru. Now can I call you Chi?"

"NO!"

"Dinner's here. Don't break my house, please." Kazuki went to the front door, and all was silent. Surprisingly, Chiharu broke the silence.

"You better not have been looking at my countries," she smirked.

Satoru burst into hysterical laughter. "How did – I mean – Pfft! HAHAHA! HOLY CRAP!"

"The walls aren't soundproof, you know." But she was laughing, too.

…

"KAZUKI, WHAT IN THE HELL?! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE AT THE SCHOOL OVER AN HOUR AGO!"

Satoru awoke with a shock and fell onto the hard floor. Naoki groaned into his pillow.

"I felt the need to enjoy a nice breakfast. Where are the boys?"

"How should I know? Just get to the fricking school! I'm surprised you're not fired yet!"

The two boys trudged downstairs, rubbing their eyes, to see Chiharu pushing Kazuki out the door. Chi was wide awake, showered dressed, and in her school uniform. It was the red and white heap Naoki saw the day before. She turned around to look at them. "Why aren't you guys ready yet?!"

"Just woke up…" Satoru grumbled.

Chiharu looked ready to explode. "I live with a bunch of disgusting slackers! First Kazuki, now you… Ugh! You have exactly ten minutes before I leave without you."

"But we don't know our way, stupid cat!" Naoki yelled.

"HURRY UP THEN!"

…

"Fifteen seconds!" Chiharu called from downstairs, looking at her watch and brushing her curly hair out of her face.

Satoru scrambled down the stairs with Naoki following close behind. _They look pretty handsome,_ she thought. _Too bad they're stupid._

Satoru stood up straight and saluted her. "Ready to go, Chi!"

"DON'T CALL ME CHI!" she screeched.

"Sir, yes, sir!"

Her eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "Let's just go, already," she said, and walked out into the crisp air.

"So Kazuki works at the school? What does he do?" Satoru asked.

"He teaches."

"There is no way he got that house from a teacher's salary." It was a big house. Not as big as the Nakamura estate where Satoru and Naoki lived before, but it was bigger than normal.

"The main house pays for it." _They pay to keep me away from them._

"Do you have any classes with Kazuki?"

"Unfortunaltely."

"How much longer until we get there?"

_So now he pipes in. _"Can't take the walk, sissy boy? It's about five minutes."

"I was just asking," he snapped.

"I was just answering," she snapped back.

An awkward silence fell around them as they walked the rest of the way.

**A/N: If you're anything like me, you're wondering where the fluff is. Coming soon… in chapter three. But I love the next chapter because one of my favorite characters I made is in it, so stick with me, I hope you'll like it, too.**

**Also: What am I doing wrong? What am I doing right? What would you like to see? Tell me in a review.**


	2. Chapter 2

"CHIHARU NAKAMURA, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN! YOU'VE BEEN MISSING FOR A _WEEK_ AND YOU TURN UP TO SCHOOL WITH TWO STRANGE GUYS IN TOW!"

"Takara…"

"YOU'RE COUSIN IS A TEACHER, HE SHOULD BE MAKING YOU GO TO SCHOOL! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH I'VE WORRIED ABOUT YOU?! I'VE ALSO HAD TO LIE TO THE TEACHERS ALL WEEK WHEN IT WAS OBVIOUS YOU'VE BEEN SKIPPING!"

"Takara."

"HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO HAVE A JOB IN THE FUTURE IF YOU-

"TAKA!" Chiharu took a deep breath and ran her hands through her hair. "I'm sorry I made you worry, okay?"

Takara gave her a huge embrace that could've killed anyone else. "You're so adorable! I could never stay mad at you, Chi!"

"How come I don't get to call you Chi?" Satoru questioned.

"I've known you for a DAY, you brat!" Chiharu hissed. "Don't you two have somewhere to be?"

"Naoki already went to class when shorty started screaming."

Takara noticed the boy again and glared at him. "Who might you be?"

"Satoru Nakamura. Pleased to meet you."

"The feeling isn't mutual. You're related to Chi?"

"No, he's a very, _very _distant cousin. That's not enough for me to be related to him," Chiharu said. "Thank God."

"You stay away from my Chi!" Takara hissed.

"Chi, the middle school kid is threatening me," Satoru said, not scared at all.

"I'M IN MY THIRD YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL, PUNK!"

Chiharu couldn't take much more of their yammering. "Satoru, you have class, Taka, you have student council. Please go away." When neither of them listened, she headed to the gymnasium without them noticing.

…

Naoki sat in class staring out the window on the first floor. He would rather be anywhere than where he was.

Except with the stupid cat.

As if on cue, he saw her run onto the school grounds, cheering about how she beat her own record. The other students were following behind, panting, while she was doing cartwheels. She fell down, but only smiled more as she got up and brushed herself off. Satoru grinned when he saw Chiharu so happy, but Naoki just stared at the triumphant smile on her face.

This was the first time he saw her genuinely smile. She wasn't mocking anyone or being sarcastic, but she was proud.

She had a lovely smile.

But then she saw him looking at her, scowled, and stuck up her middle finger.

Satoru chuckled to himself as Naoki sighed and turned back to face his teacher. _So much for that._

…

"WHOOHOO, I BEAT THE SCHOOL RECORD _AGAIN!_ TAKE THAT, YOU MOTHER F-

"Nakamura, you _are_ in a school," said her exasperated teacher.

Chiharu shrugged and did cartwheels, too happy to correct her teacher about the fact that they were _outside_ of a school. Takara would be so proud of her when Chiharu told her. Her grin widened when she fell on her butt after too many cartwheels.

She stood up and brushed the dirt off of her gym uniform, laughing happily. She looked up, immediately regretting it.

She could see that damn rat through the window in front of her, and he was glaring. It killed her buzz, so she saluted him with her favorite hand signal.

She instantly regained her happiness when she saw Takara in the halls after school.

…

"Hey Chi."

"Taka, Taka! Guess what happened?"

"You beat the 100 meter dash record."

"Nope! I beat the mile run record." Chi was so proud, Takara just couldn't take it.

"Aw, Chi, you are just _too cute!_" Takara ruffled Chiharu's hair.

"Yeah, Chi, you're just precious!" Satoru squealed, walking up to them.

Takara saw Chi's face burn up from embarrassment and anger. "Don't call me Chi!"

Takara sighed. _Here we go again…_

She wished Chi would lighten up around other people. Chi was herself only around Takara: Still short tempered, but happy and carefree. Maybe more people would approach her if she didn't tune them out with harsh words.

Of course, Takara wasn't fond of her when they met, either.

…

Takara lit her cigarette and watched the night sky, contemplating what her parents had said to her.

"_Taka, you know I love you, but this has to stop."_

"_And what are you going to do about it? You're spineless and weak."_

"_Takara, don't you dare talk to your mother that way!" Her father yelled. Now _he_ was scary when he was mad._

_Takara couldn't care less what they thought. She just walked straight out of the door, leaving them to call her name._

Now she sat at a bus stop, not sure if she had the right amount of money to ride the bus, and clueless about where she was supposed to go.

Someone sat down in a huff beside her, fury radiating off of them. She turned to look at them and scowled.

It was a girl with bright orange hair.

Just like her father's.

The girl was mumbling something about someone named Masaru and someone else named Kazuki, who both were stupid. She was tall, but looked pretty young.

"Don't mind if I smoke, do you?"

The girl just noticed Takara sitting there, and paused before answering. "I do. But that isn't going to stop you, is it?" She said it harshly.

"No. What are you doing here, kid?"

"Waiting for a bus," she retorted.

The girl looked familiar to Takara now. "Aren't you that Nakamura kid? You go to my middle school."

"Not anymore. I'm leaving and never going back."

"Do you have money for the bus?"

"I don't need it."

Takara scoffed. "That's stupid, of course you need it. How else would you get on the bus?"

"Like this," she said. She got up from her seat and started to climb the telephone pole next to them. Takara dropped her cigarette and stood up quickly.

"What the hell are you doing?! You're going to fall, moron!"

"I won't!" the Nakamura girl yelled, then jumped. She landed on the thick glass cover over the bench, and then jumped onto the sidewalk on all fours.

The girl smiled proudly. "See? I told you I could do it!"

Her smile was so… adorable. "What's your name?" Takara asked.

"Chiharu Nakamura," she said, returning to her agitated self. "You?"

"Takara Sohma. Nice to meet you, Chi."

"I'VE KNOWN YOU FOR FIVE MINUTES, SOHMA! DON'T CALL ME CHI!"

Takara smiled, although it was small.


	3. Chapter 3

Chiharu had the life squeezed out of her seconds after the door opened.

"Oh, I can't believe I finally get to meet you! You are just so cute and adorable and your hair is so pretty, and-

"Who the hell are you?!" Chi screeched. "Let go of me!"

"But you're just like a stuffed animal! I don't want to let go!"

"Let go of her. She still has to mow the lawn."

Chiharu was released and she regained her breath. The woman was now hugging Kazuki, which scared her for a minute.

_But Kazuki didn't change._

"KAZU!" I missed you so much, how come you never called me? Or wrote to me? What kind of person are you? Where are Sato and Nao, huh?"

"You're scaring Chiharu."

"So that's your name? It's pretty!" The woman smiled at Chiharu. "I'm Aimi, Kazu's sister."

"Kazuki didn't transform! What are you?"

Aimi cocked her head, then knocked her head with her fist. "Silly me. I forgot that you never met the whole Zodiac. I'm the- YAY, SATO AND NAO ARE HERE! NAO, SATO, GIVE ME HUGS!"

"Aw, crap!" Satoru said and bolted for the back door. Naoki got tackled in his place.

"Nao, where were you? Why weren't you home when I got here?"

"School," he choked out.

"But Chichi was here!"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!"

"Satoru had detention and Naoki picked him up," Kazuki said. "He went black."

"I guess you can't help that, then! Do you have anything to eat? I'm starving! I haven't eaten for days!"

"Whose fault is that, you moron! Why are you here?!" Chiharu screamed.

"That is a long, _long _story that should be told over by food! Preferably cake…" Aimi pranced into the house and helped herself to whatever was in the fridge, which was nothing. "Kazu, there's nothing in here! How are you supporting yourself and three other people?! I'm going shopping for you!"

"You don't know your way around town, IDIOT!" Chiharu yelled.

"Come with me, Chichi!" she said, and then she started to sing. "Chichi, come with me, Chichi, come with me, la la la, la la lee…"

"How old are you again?" Chiharu muttered.

…

Aimi handed the money to the cashier and skipped out the door with her purchase. She knew Chichi was following close behind, and she was mad. That Chichi was acting silly, who could be mad when they just bought cake? She was glad she met Chichi before she had to leave.

Wait, did Aimi just see… Yes, she did! A clothes shop!

"Chichi, let's go there, right there! I want to try on _everything!_"

"That's nice, but Kazuki only gave you enough money for food."

"I have my own money!"

"So you used Kazuki's money to buy a cake when you had your own cash. He's not going to be happy about- LET GO OF ME, YOU MONSTER!" Chichi screamed when Aimi grabbed her wrist and drug her inside.

"I'm going to try on this one, and this one, and this one, and this one here, and that one, and these! Come with me to the dressing room, Chichi, I need help deciding!" Aimi let go of Chichi and locked the door to the dressing room.

"I'm not wasting my time doing this!" Chichi said.

"Nao's at the house…" Aimi said. She heard a huff and someone sitting down on the leather bench outside.

"Good Chichi!"

"Don't call me that! You're worse that Satoru!"

"Sato and Nao are so lucky…" Aimi thought out loud. "You are, too. You get to stay with Kazu."

"I don't want to stay there. I want to live in a Nakamura-free place, where people _aren't _psychotic."

"I'd give anything to live with Kazu… It's better than where I'm going."

"Where are you going that's so awful? I'd do anything to be there."

Aimi sighed. "A snobby rich-kid private school, far away. Masaru decided I should go there. It's not like I can change anything when he makes up his mind. That's why I came, to see Kazu and meet you before I left." _I wish I could change his mind._

She stepped out of the dressing room and twirled around for Chichi to see.

"You look nice. Can we go now?"

"Nuh-uh, Chichi! I want your honest opinion!" Aimi said.

"I think you look… great."

"Aw, thanks Chichi! I'm getting this dress for sure!"

Little did they know a man was talking on the phone without paying attention to where he was going.

"OOF!" Aimi said. A pale yellow fog puffed and Aimi scampered under the dressing room door.

She could see Chichi stand up from under the door, moving to where Aimi was. "Sorry for bumping into you, sir, I've been having a clumsy streak lately. Ha ha…"

"I swear I just saw… Never mind. Have a good day," The man said, and scurried off. Aimi could hear him debating whether or not he needed glasses. Chichi opened the door and glared at Aimi."

"You're crazy! Do you have any idea how much trouble this would get us into?!" she yelled/whispered.

"But you have to admit, I make a pretty cute rabbit," Aimi countered as she looked up. As she looked, she saw something behind Chichi and an idea formed in her head. "Try that on."

Chichi looked behind her. "That? You're kidding. Let's leave."

"I am as serious as I can be. I will not leave until you try it on."

"Fine!" Chichi huffed and grabbed it off the rack. "But only because I want to leave."

More fog came, and now Aimi sat in her human form on the floor. She quickly put her clothes on and ran to the shoes to find a pair of white flats for Chichi. When she went back, Chichi was fuming, and in Aimi's opinion, she was adorable. The outfit she made Chichi was a black corset-like blouse over a white long sleeved shirt and a black ruffled skirt.

"I look ridiculous," Chichi said.

"You look awesome!" Aimi took her to the counter and bought her dress and both pairs of shoes. her shoes. She just told the cashier to scan the clothes already on Chichi, and insisted on paying for her. Then she made Chichi put on the shoes while she went to go put on her new outfit: A pink strapless dress and white sandals. When she came back, she saw Chichi walking out of the door and into another store.

"Chichi! Don't leave me behind!" Aimi whined, and darted after her. When she walked into the next store, Chichi was paying for a camera.

"What do you need that for?" Aimi pointed at the camera.

Chichi gave the camera to Aimi. "This is what I'm getting you, since you wouldn't let me pay for my clothes. You can take pictures at wherever you're going to be, and you can also take pictures here to have with you while you're there."

Aimi nearly burst with happiness. "Chichi, that's so nice of you!"

Chichi blushed a deep red. "I wasn't trying to be nice, I was trying to pay you back! And my name is Chiharu! Sheesh."

Aimi rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Smile!" She threw her arm around Chichi's shoulders and pointed the camera towards them. Chichi was hesitant at first, but gave a small grin.

…

"We're home! And I brought cake!" Aimi sang. Kazu was watching the news with Satoru and Naoki.

"It does not take that long to buy cake," Kazu said in his monotone voice.

"I got some clothes for me and Chichi. Doesn't she look cute?"

"My name is _not _Chichi!"

Sato froze and blushed for a moment, but quickly recovered. Nobody caught it, except for Aimi, who smirked at him. Chichi was really pretty, after all.

"Yeah, Aimi. It's Chi. Get your facts straight."

"Chiharu. CHI. HA. RU. Nothing else!" Chi said.

Aimi stepped back and snapped a picture.

**A/N: This is going to be a long note, so skip if you like, BUT IT IS IMPORTANT.**

**This chapter is a set up for another story I may or may not write when this is over. Also, thanks for reviewing, even though there are only 2! Woof-chan1: Thanks for being my first reviewer; I'm glad you like my characters! Hetaliafreak97: I may or may not plan to introduce the Nakamuras to the Sohmas, you'll have to wait and see. He he he hahaha MWAHAHAHA *cough* Also, you might write an ouran story?! When is this happening?! I must know! You might be interested in the next story I'm writing, to, the reason will be revealed in the next chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

Slowly, ever so slowly, Aimi crept up to take a picture of Chichi while she was sleeping.

But she forgot to turn the flash off.

Chichi shot straight up, alert and ready to attack. She then relaxed when she found out that it wasn't a robber who broke into her room.

"I don't know why I bought you that damn camera," Chichi grumbled.

"I don't know why, either," Aimi said. "It cost way more than that outfit!" Not that it mattered anymore, she got a whole new wardrobe for Chichi when she found out how expensive the camera was, much to Chichi's dismay.

"Where's Kazuki? Can't you go spend your last few days here with him?"

"Kazu went grocery shopping," Aimi said. She was looking at all the pictures she took in the last week. She giggled at the one where Chichi was trying to beat up Nao.

"How'd you get him to do that?" Chichi questioned.

"I asked him," Aimi said, and shrugged.

"No way, I've been asking him for years. It wasn't that easy."

"Well, it wasn't. He said no, so I told him I could nail a lamp onto the door."

"… You lost me."

"I dropped the nail, and when he picked it up, I dropped the lamp on his head. He got the message, but he said he had to go to work after, so I'm hanging out with you."

"Aw, CRAP! I cannot believe it!"

"What's wrong, Chichi?"

Chichi put on her school uniform in a rush. "That moron finally goes to work on time and doesn't bother to wake me up! My alarm should've woken me up!"

Aimi smiled a devilish grin. "Wonder how that happened…"

"YOU THINK YOU'RE QUITE THE PRANKSTER, HUH? WELL NOW SATORU WONT GET TO SCHOOL EITHER!"

Aimi's grin got wider. "What about Nao?"

"Um, well, I said Naoki," Chichi stuttered.

"No you didn't."

"WELL WHO CARES ABOUT THAT DAMN RAT ANYWAYS?! YOU'RE DRIVING US TO SCHOOL!"

"I don't have a driver's license, Chichi! That's against the law!"

Chichi rubbed her forehead. "You have got to be joking. HEY, IDIOTS! WAKE UP!" she said, sprinting into their room. Aimi could hear the door hit against the slanted ceiling. Then she heard swearing. Lots of swearing.

"Hope you got your beauty sleep, God knows you need it! You have five minutes until I leave without you!"

Chichi rushed, and it was easy to tell. Her hair was sticking out all over, and her shirt was on backwards. Aimi caught onto her tie from behind just before she was about to leave.

"LET GO! I'M GOING TO BE LATE AND TAKA-

"Silly Chichi. Students aren't supposed to go to school today!"

Chichi froze, and her head turned slowly. It was scary, almost like an owl. "What?"

"Yep! You get to spend another day with me!"

Chichi said a multitude of words that would get her in trouble at school. Then she got really loud and turned into a pretty kitty. She ran past Sato and Nao, who were coming downstairs in pajamas. Sato dropped to the floor and fell asleep.

Aimi fumbled for her camera and took a picture. "I can't believe Chichi forgot about not having school."

"Stupid cat. She even had plans today." Nao sat on a stool and put his head on the countertop.

"She did? I was hoping all of us could do fun stuff together! What's so important that she can't have fun?"

"She's got plans with Takara Sohma and her younger brother."

Nao snored. "Everyone is so loud here!" Aimi whined.

"You shouldn't be saying that. You just add extra noise to an already horrible place. I hate it here."

"So why did you come?" Aimi said, getting ready to take a picture.

"Masaru." The one name explained it all.

Aimi's finger hovered over the button, and then she lowered her camera. "You, too?"

Nao wouldn't answer her, so she kept on talking while making herself breakfast. "Masaru pretty much screwed up my life, too. I don't want to go to that new school… I can't even remember the name. A… O… It definitely started with an 'O'. And I already hate it. But I'm trying to be as happy as I can, because one day, that might be how I feel. You should give it a shot."

Two pieces of toast sprung up out of the toaster and scared the living daylights out of her. She screamed and fell, knocking over a chair with papers all over it.

"OURAN!" she yelled out, and held up the student handbook to her school. "That's where I'm going!"

…

"Chi, I am here!" Takara shouted enthusiastically.

"I'm here, too!" Arata called.

They didn't see Chi. They saw Chi's relatives. Two of them were out cold, and the third one was eating toast and ripping up a pink book page by page. It smelled a little bit like roses.

"Chichi's upstairs," said the blond girl. She was giggling with an evil look in her eyes.

"CHI, THIS GIRL'S CRAZY," Takara called.

Chi came down, dressed in clothes that actually made her look like a girl. "You're preaching to the choir."

"Hold it! When did _this_ happen?" Arata gestured excitedly with his hands. Chichi stared at him for a minute, then smiled up to him.

"I'm female. I can dress like it." She looked adorable.

"Ah, Chi, I want to hug you so bad," Arata said like a child.

Aimi raised her eyebrows. He obviously knew. "You're the younger brother?"

Arata nodded. "Only by two years."

_Same age as Chichi and Sato!_ Aimi smirked. "Kay… you guys have fun!"

…

"Jeez! I didn't know Chichi was a flirt!"

Chiharu's face darkened. _"I'm a what?"_

"You know, Arata! And Satoru, too!"

Chiharu scowled even more. "What crap are you spouting out now? Can't I go to sleep?"

"Nope! It's only lunchtime!"

Chiharu just got back from an aggravating but appreciated outing with the two Sohmas. She didn't feel like dealing with Aimi at all. "Let me sleep. Let me f***ing sleep."

"Not until I hear all about today! What did you guys do? Did you have fun? Did you-

Chiharu slammed her bedroom door in Aimi's face. The truth was, she wasn't even tired. She was too shaken up to sleep.

…

"Chi, can we go to the mall?"

"Chi doesn't want to go to the mall, she wants to go to the arcade."

"Mall."

"Arcade."

"Neither!" Chiharu yelled. "I just want to eat!"

"Yeah, Chi doesn't want to go to the mall!" Arata said.

"She doesn't want to waste time with video games, either."

Chiharu sighed and walked ahead of them into a café. She froze just as the bells on the door chimed.

He was sitting there. Just sitting. There was no food in front of him, just a glass of water. The lemon wedge from the glass sat off to the side on a napkin, mangled and torn in half.

"_You're worthless. Nobody even knows who you are. Nobody wants to know."_

"It's not true," Chiharu whispered.

"_Just look at you. You are a __monster. __ Nothing can change that, not even those beads."_

"IT'S NOT TRUE!" She screamed. Everyone in the small room looked at her, including him. But it wasn't him, this boy had a different face. A confused, happy face.

Masaru wasn't ever happy.

He was never confused.

He still scared her, even when she couldn't see him.

…

Chiharu sat down with her back to the door, checking again, even though she already knew. She pulled up the bottom of her jeans. The beads were still there, wrapped around her ankle. They would be for the rest of her life.

**This SUCKS. I don't update as fast as I would like, and then what I write when I take the time is total crap. Sorry! Anyway, I'll start Aimi's story after chapter 5 of this one. She'll still have a presence here, but in the OHSHC story she'll be in the spotlight.**

**It occurs to me that there is no disclaimer, so I'll do it now. I do not own the original Fruits Basket or Ouran High School Host Club (no duh). You will not be seeing this disclaimer again, enjoy it while it lasts.**


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